Christmas promotions and decorations fill the stores with many already counting down the shopping days remaining before Christmas. Traditionally, advent calendars have been used to count down the days leading into Christmas and these are always very popular with families and children, whether they are the commercial variety of windowed chocolates to open each day or something more home-style and creative.

Why not encourage families to access the free online Advent Calendar from Friends and Heroes? Each day is filled with video, activities, puzzles and daily Bible readings. Use the following link to check it out.Online Advent Calendar I've included some other ideas for Advent Calendars that kids can create or that you may like to use to teach kids about the real meaning of Christmas. Just click on an image to link to the site.For other advent calendar ideas, visit our Family page with 10 top ideas for Advent Calendars.

If you haven't had the opportunity to check out LifeWay's curriculum, 'The Gospel Project', please take a few moments now to do so.

Currently, LifeWay is offering a month of free access to the materials for you to peruse including materials for Preschool, Younger Kids, Older Kids, Students and Adults. You'll find lesson materials, Key passage posters, Bible story videos, Video countdowns, Mission videos, Timeline maps, Worship songs and song videos, Big picture questions, Parent resources and Family Journal pages. Evaluate the material and provide feedback to LifeWay.

The material is available in digital or printed format which is a big plus from my perspective, since postage costs to Australia are excessive. I also appreciate materials with all age-groups dealing with the same content- great for families to talk about and discuss at home. You'll also find promotional material (logos, posters, list of themed decorating ideas) and training helps (guides and videos).

Thanksgiving- the perfect opportunity to be reminded to thank God for His overflowing love and goodness to us. Although we don't officially celebrate this American holiday in Australia, many churches and children's ministries are taking advantage of the season to encourage children and families to acknowledge and thank God for His love, goodness and gifts to us.

Here are some last minute ideas and resources that you may find useful for this time of remembrance and thanksgiving. Simply click on the image in the slideshow below to take you to the relevant information or website.

Through history, puppets have caught the attention of children and adults alike as they laugh, learn, imagine, empathize and dream through the antics of a puppet. If you’re notincluding puppets in some aspect of your work with children- watching them, interacting with them, making them or presenting with them- you need to reconsider the impact of puppets.

Maybe you’d like to develop a puppetry team or even highlight the possibilities of puppets with your volunteers but don’t know where to start.

KidsKount has produced a series of free, short training videos that you can email to your leaders. It’s a great way to present these tips and techniques for making puppets come alive, simply and effectively. These videos include:

Why not print off our puppetry training handout for your volunteers (see here..) as an introduction to the training series and a highlight the weekly emailed videos? Encourage everyone to read the material and watch the videos. Make it something they will look forward to by including special news, information or photos about your program or upcoming events or links to fun puppet ideas and ‘how-to’ suggestions. Maybe you could make it really special and create a competition with a classroom puppet as the prize.

While we all accept the need to keep current in our ministry, we also acknowledge the difficulty of finding and reading quality content and the costs of magazine subscriptions and books. So... you'll be pleased to know that there are ministry magazines available to download in-app to your iPad/Smartphone.

Thriving Family (Focus on the Family) provides a free magazine download with content covering family stages, media reviews, ideas for including family faith into your busy life, devotions, family living articles and more. Read it yourself and encourage families to download and read these family articles and features, too. It might be helpful to note, too, that a free weekly family newsletter is available to download and print off for families in your church. It's a single-page parenting tool that includes a family devotion and brief parenting insight. Check out the sample page below. Further issues are available from their site.. here.

HomeFront (David C. Cook) is another free downloadable magazine app that you may like to consider. Download and read the magazine or look through the listed resources- Environment, God's Word, Food and Fun, Traditions, Storytelling and more. Then choose 2 or 3 ideas to incorporate into your family times during the week. You'll find conversation starters, recipes and activities for different age groups.

Group Publishing has produced a digital version of their Children's Ministry Magazine that is available via app download. A sample issue is provided at no cost but a subscription can be purchased in-app: $2.99 per issue or an annual subscription $11.99. It's a low-cost, excellent way to keep up-to-date with all the news, reviews and trends in children's ministry through the easy access of your iPad.